Sportsgalaxy: Chelsea and Benfica to Face Off in Europa League Final

The 2013 Europa League semi finals have seen some serious upsets in the soccer community after Benfica eliminated Turkey giants Fenerbache on 3-2 aggregate after beating them 3-1 in their second leg match at the Estadio da luz in Lisbon. Fenerbache had beaten Benfica by 1-0 in their first leg encounter in Turkey. Against all expectations, Chelsea beat FC Basel to see them go through to the final.

Chelsea advanced to the finals with a comfortable win of 3 goals to 1 and a 5-2 aggregate when they beat FC Basel at Stamford Bridge. Fernando Torres and Victor Moses maintained their high scoring standards and each put a ball in the net for Chelsea, both scoring within 3 minutes of each other in the second half. David Luiz stunned the crowd with a curled goal that ended the match with a 3-1 score and secured Chelsea’s place in the final on the 15 May at the ArenA in Amsterdam. Luiz will be playing against his former club teammates and hoping to repeat his goal success of the semi final.

FC Basel coach Murat Yakin complimented his team for playing well in the first half but said the second half went too fast and the team was caught out. In the first half he felt confident Basel was causing Chelsea some serious problems, but they lost their way in second half and had to concede defeat. Their 1 goal against 3 was a far less embarrassing result than Barcelona’s 0-3 defeat against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions’ League and the Basel team felt they had performed well.

The win and advancement to the Europa League Final was a welcome relief for Chelsea’s interim coach, Rafa Benitez.

Chelsae FC

Benitez has been rather unpopular with many of the fans after he was elected to temporarily replace sacked Roberto Di Matteo, who had led the team to victory in the Champions League. It increasingly seems like former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is both a fan and player favourite to return as coach after his current team, Real Madrid were knocked out in the Champions League semis. It seems like Chelsea would welcome him back with open arms as during the course of the match fans constantly chanted his name. If he does return he just may have a Europa League trophy as a great starting point.

The final between Chelsea and Benfica will be an absolute showstopper as both teams are determined to triumph, and for anyone who wants to place bets on the game it may be a tough choice on which way to go. If you are interested in betting entertainment and can’t stand the suspense of waiting for the game to start, why not try your hand at mobile casino games at a site like http://www.mobilecasino.mobi and enjoy some winning action whilst you wait.

Benfica

This will be Chelsea’s first Europa League Final in history and Frank Lampard will be itching to score his 202^nd goal in the final. The midfielder has been waiting to score in Chelsea’s colours and if selected for play he hopes to kick his way into the record books, as he needs just one goal to equal Bobby Tambling’s all time club scoring record . Lampard fired off an attempted goal in the semis but hit the post and did not get another clean opportunity for the rest of the game. His failure to score in the semis left him disappointed and Bayern Munich better keep an eye on the midfielder who is looking to claim the trophy and add to his scoring record.

Chelsea has had a turbulent season and the Europa League is their 8^th and final chance to claim a trophy after a rather rocky ride. If Chelsea is triumphant they will become the first team to hold both European Titles at once, a rather impressive record in sporting history and a real reason to give it their all.